


MacDavis Part One

by Lanfear_AlTelamon



Series: MacDavis [1]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29054889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanfear_AlTelamon/pseuds/Lanfear_AlTelamon
Summary: Riley Davis visits Angus MacGyver's house, breaking quarantine curfews to help a friend.
Relationships: Riley Davis & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: MacDavis [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143077
Comments: 5
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work was co-created with the help of my sister who does not have an account. Please give her the love.

Riley Davis was a mess. She was going nuts in her apartment with those horrible neighbors, and a lack of a real conversation; one not involving screens and shitty wifi. She had way too much time to think about everything that had happened with Codex.

Honestly she was really worried about Mac. This past year and a half was horrible for him; he lost Charlie, his best friend; the Phoenix shut down; complicated breakup with Desi; and the world almost ended. Oh yah, and his dad blew up while protecting him from his aunt. The aunt he knew nothing about until he met her and realized she wanted to end the world based on a plan his late mother had concocted twenty five years ago. Then his aunt blew up too, and now the whole world has shut down because of a pandemic. Mac had been alone in his house for two months with no one around to help him through the catastrophe this last year brought to him.

Riley’s car pulled into the driveway of Mac’s house. She knew that she was breaking the isolation code by coming here, not to mention orders from Matty to stay safe and only interact with others if absolutely necessary. However, the last time they spoke via facetime, she saw that he wasn’t doing well; bags under his eyes, disheveled hair, and old clothes. He was also distracted, which isn’t completely out of the ordinary for Angus MacGyver, but it worried her. 

She put the car in park and turned off the engine. She got out of the car and walked up to his front door and hesitated. Should she be doing this? Mac was in a relationship with someone, true she had feelings for him, and she didn’t like that he was with someone else, but she was also not petty. She wasn’t going to steal him away, and she didn’t want to cause trouble. 

**CRASH**

What the hell? Riley opened the door and ran into the house. “Mac?” 

**CRASH**

The sound definitely came from the back of the house, as well as several grunts and muffled cries of frustration. "Mac!" Riley ran to the back of the house as fast as she could just in time to watch Mac hurl a busted up chunk of metal at the ground. 

"Mac! What are you doing? You good?" She asked in a flurry of surprise and concern. 

Mac turned and looked at her, “Riley? What are you doing here?” She looked him over and immediately saw that he was _not_ all right. He was wearing the same clothes he had on two days ago during their facetime (some of Jack's, she presumed, since it was several sizes too big for him), the bags under his eyes were even deeper and he actually had stubble on his chin.

“You weren’t answering your phone… What are you doing? Is that the—”

“—It’s the carbon scrubber. I couldn’t get it to work and nothing I do will fix it.” Mac interrupted angrily.

“Okay… but did it really deserve death by blunt force?” She joked to try and calm him down. He turned to the wreckage with a glare. 

“Yes.” he stated matter of factly. He carded his blond locks and turned back to Riley. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came to make sure you were cool, bro. Clearly I should have come a few minutes earlier to spare the carbon thingy a gruesome death.” She said with a smile of concern on her face. She was seriously worried about him now. 

“I'm fine, Riles," Mac stated firmly as he stumbled over towards the kitchen. He stopped and looked around in confusion. “Just a little frustrated.”

Riley didn't believe him. "When was the last time you took a shower?" She asked as she leaned on a chair. "And shaved?"

Mac reached up and felt his chin. “Yah… it’s been a while. Haven’t had many visitors.” he replied with a shrug. 

“Well you have one now. So how about I make some food and grab some beer; and you.. You go have a shower.” Riley said as lightheartedly as she can. She turned towards the kitchen to scavenge for food. “Oh and Mac, you should change your clothes too. They have Carbon Scrubber guts on them.”

Mac looks down and huffs. “Yah, that’s probably a good idea.” He turns and stumbles his way to the bathroom. 

Riley continued on into the disaster that had once been Mac’s kitchen. How long had it been since someone else had been here? It looked like a chemistry lab, a biology experiment and more than a few failed dinners had converged into what could only be described as a gigantic mess. The shower started running and Riley decided that orders are meant to be broken, Mac needed fresh air and a good meal. 


	2. Chapter 2

Mac let out a sigh as the warm water thudded against his bare back. He couldn't help but let it sink in for a few moments. As the days went by, he had forgotten to take showers more and more. He had no reason to. Though now that he let the water clean him, he realized that he wouldn't want to leave. 

Despite not having a warning and time to prepare, he was glad Riley had come. It had been months since Desi left, leaving him stuck here with his thoughts. Everyone knew Mac alone with his thoughts was a dangerous combination, even himself. Especially after taking the DMT and diving headfirst into his mind. 

He stood frozen under the warm water as he heard the song playing in the drips of water on the porcelain. His thoughts drifted to his dead mother, and the truth no one told him; that she designed the end of the world, and was killed for it. He spent his whole life thinking she died of cancer, and that one day he would too; that is if his job didn’t kill him first. Turns out that was another lie told to him, she was really killed by the CIA; his own government. Russ Taylor kept telling him that he was over thinking and that was not what happened. That what his Aunt told him was a lie to get him to side with her. 

_ The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout… _

“Mac! You making your own soap in there or something?” 

He snapped out of his reverie and looked around. How long had he been in the shower? “I’ll be out in a moment.” he replied to Riley’s question. He forgot she was here. Why did he have the feeling that she shouldn’t be here? There were too many thoughts drifting through his head, he couldn’t focus on what he was doing. He sighed and got out of the warm and comforting shower.

He dressed and walked out of his room towards the back deck, where Riley had somehow gathered sandwiches and beer. Where the hell did she find food in his house? He hadn’t gone shopping in weeks. “Hey Riles.” he greeted her as he plopped down beside her around the fire pit.

“Hey Mac, feeling better?” Riley asked as she handed him a sandwich. 

“Actually yah. I can’t remember the last time I had a decent shower.” he confessed to her. Why in the world would he say that? Now she’s going to worry about him and ask questions, he didn’t want to push all his problems onto her. “Sorry. You probably didn’t come here to hear me complain about my personal hygiene.” He chuckled, trying desperately to backpedal. 

“I came here to get away from home. I’m going nuts on my own. Honestly I have watched almost every movie in existence, and played all the games I have like twelve times over. That and my neighbours SUCK. They blast their music so loud that I’ve debated hacking their accounts and getting them evicted.” Riley explained while eating her food. She took a swig of her beer and continued, “I figured if anyone had anything interesting to do, or at least had an idea to battle the boredom we face, it would be you.” Mac laughed. He knew she was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth but he’s glad she isn’t going to pry. He honestly wouldn’t be able to tell her how he’s been the past few weeks without breaking down. 

“Well, you came to the right place Riles. I have a few ideas to help combat this new epidemic of boredom. I can run them by you--”

“--Whatever we do, let’s do it… not here. No offence but your place is a mess and we both could use some fresh air.” Riley interrupted before he could finish. Mac looked around his house, he hated to admit it, and was actually embarrassed as he realized her words were an understatement. His house was a graveyard of parts and dirty clothes. There were tools laying around everywhere and several burned carpets where stuff had caught fire. 

How had he not noticed this before? And why was he so worried about what Riley thought of him? It’s not like his place hadn’t been a mess before, it had. Many times actually, but this was the first time he was deeply embarrassed by the state of it. This was undoubtedly the worst state it’s ever been in. Even counting when they had to tear up the house and replaster the walls after The Ghost tried to blow him up. But why is he so worried about what Riley thought?

“Agreed. This place is.. A bit messy. I’ll grant you that.” He looked down in shame. Why was he ashamed? It’s Riley. “So what would you like to do? I can think of a few things we can do to pass the time.” He asked kinda hoping she would come up with something because he had nothing. Absolutely nothing. No ideas what so ever. 

“Well…. I'm down for whatever, but I’m leaning towards whatever caused that.” Riley said while pointing to the string of melted plastic and wire, hanging down off of a scorched beam.

"Right. That. That was a failed attempt to create a new chemical for fire suppression. It was supposed to help keep oil fires from burning down houses.” He explained to Riley, remembering how he almost set his whole house on fire, not to mention himself. 

“So it didn’t work?” Riley asked.

“No it worked. I just had to test it on an oil fire to confirm, and my sprinkler system came on and, well, kinda blew it up.” He looked at the melted wires that used to be his porch lights and wondered if he could salvage any of that. “Honestly I’m shocked my neighbours didn’t call the fire department.” He said laughing, remembering the panic that overtook him in realizing he would have to explain what he was doing to the LAFD. 

“Honestly Mac, I think your neighbours know now that you are always doing weird stuff, and not to call. I mean you’ve been living here for a while.” She joked with him.

“That, and the fire department is probably tired of coming here every time something catches fire.” He said matter of factly, remembering the new neighbours who called 911 when he and Bozer accidentally blew up the barbeque. “So you want to see the new flame retardant work?” He turned to Riley, watching her smile at the thought of burning things. 

“Hell yeah! Let’s put this stuff to the test!" Riley exclaimed before downing the rest of her beer. She was so happy, it was infectious. He smiled and started towards where he kept his chemistry stuff. “Mac, we should probably move some of this stuff out of the way. And maybe disable the sprinkler system first though.” She said, looking around at the clutter of machine parts splattered on his deck.

“Yah I think that’s a good idea. No need to disable the sprinklers though, the hose melted in the first test and I had to disconnect it. So we should be good.” He looked up at the mess of melted plastic clinging to the beams crisscrossing the deck. How in the world is he going to clean that? He starts grabbing pieces of wreckage and tossing it to the side.

“Any of this still useful?” Riley asked, holding up a piece of twisted metal that used to be on his Carbon Scrubber. He was still freaked out at what he did to it, smashing it to the ground in a fit of rage. He had no idea he had that much anger bottled up; a piece of that could have hit Riley as she walked in. 

“Maybe, I don’t know.” He said distantly trying to push the thought of Riley getting hurt out of his head. “Just pile everything up to the side. We should have this area clear to test the retardant in case the fire spurts up. Here at least it won’t catch my roof on fire. Again.” He said calculating how large the plume of fire would be, and the distance he and Riley would need to be safe in case it didn’t work. 

“All right, it’s clear. What do we blow up?” Riley asked, looking around and brushing her long wavy hair back with her hand. Was it just him losing his mind, or was her hair longer? It had been a while since he had seen, well anyone. 

It took him a moment to realize he was just staring at Riley, and not answering her question. “Ummm, this stuff here is flammable.” He quickly spat out while scrambling to grab the pile of broken wood and stray pieces of paper and random plastic objects. He piled all the stuff in the middle of the deck and was about to light it when he remembered that he hadn’t actually made the flame retardant yet. “Oh umm… hold on one moment Riles.” He turned and made his way to the kitchen/chem lab he set up to grab what he needed. Quickly remembering that this stuff works best when on a grease fire, he grabbed the container of bacon grease he had scraped off the bottom of the pan the other day. It was more burnt bacon then grease but it’ll do. 

“Here we go.” He dumped what he had in his hands onto the deck and started mixing the chemicals. “Go ahead and dump this on the pile, Riles.” He said while holding the container of burnt grease towards her. “Do NOT mix water with this.” He cautioned her. 

“But isn’t that how you make the fire explode?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and the half smirk that she has perfected into something to make his knees feel like Jello. 

“Y-yes but we should probably wait to do that until I have the retardant ready. If not we may burn the whole place to the ground.” He measured out the final chemical and poured it into the mixture. “Well here we go. Light her up Riles.”

Riley gave a happy squeak and lit the match he handed to her and tossed it onto the pile. It lit immediately. Something about fire soothed him, maybe it was the inconsistency of the flames, or perhaps it was the gentle heat that it radiated. He stared into the sapphire center of the fire, listening to it crackle and dance. “So, we ready to make this blow?” Riley asked Mac while holding an open bottle of water next to the flames with a giant smile on her face. He could say no, it would save his porch, and would make the neighbours happy. How many times have they seen explosions of fire like this in the past few weeks? However, he could not say no to Riley’s smiling face. 

“Do it.” Mac said with a giant grin. 


	3. Chapter 3

"I swear, sir, the fire was under control."

Riley listened to Mac as he explained to the fireman why the sky was on fire for a split second. She couldn't help but snicker and scoff as the two men seemed to bicker just around the corner. 

"How did I put it out so fast?" She heard Mac repeat the fireman's question, then he went onto one of his long science explanations into the compound he created and why it worked. She didn't understand any of it, and she was sure the fireman didn't either. 

“Okay sir. Sorry sir. Won’t happen again.” Mac shut the door on the retreating firemen. As they left she thought she heard one of the firemen mutter something about scientists and how much they hate coming to this address. 

What a great liar. Riley smiled proudly as Mac walked into the room, and he gave her a sheepish grin in return. 

“What?” he asked. 

“I just think that you are a better liar then everybody would peg you for. I’m proud.” She smiled again as she watched Mac turn back towards the door and give his head a shake. Honestly it was a miracle that they didn’t burn down the house, the flames blew so high it looked almost biblical. 

“Well I have had a lot of experience explaining all the weird things that happen here to the fire department. Back in Mission City, the fire department had an entire firefighting team on standby close to the school, just in case.” He looked around and picked at the counter top, not quite meeting her eyes. 

“Hey, what’s the matter? We didn’t burn down the joint, and we didn’t get in trouble. Everything okay?” She tried to decipher what Mac was thinking but it’s not that easy. 

“I know that but…. You could have been hurt.” He said looking straight into her eyes with deep concern. Oh. She didn’t think about that.

“Mac. I’m fine. A little fire couldn’t hurt me. Besides, I trust you, I knew you would never let anything like that happen.” She grabbed his shoulders and stared him down to ensure he understood.

Mac looked her in the eyes, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he nodded. Was it just her, or did his eyes seem more vibrant? They were incredibly blue and she had to pull away before she got lost in them. She needed him to stop looking so sad, it was breaking her heart, not to mention, fueling her anger towards Desi for leaving him alone with his thoughts. She had no idea what he was thinking but she knew it wasn’t the normal geeky Mac stuff. No chemical formulas, or complex math equations were being solved by Angus MacGyver today; or at least for the past week. Riley glanced up and saw that he was still staring at her, well more accurately, through her. He was aiming his eyes at her but not seeing her, he was lost deep in thought. 

The look on his face when he did this was one of his defining features, when he looked into space with the geeky joy at whatever problem he was solving in his mind, followed with the Ah-Ha moment when he figures whatever it is, out. The look on his face currently was not that face. It was haunted, and drawn. Whatever Mac was thinking about, it wasn’t good.

“Hey Mac.” She asked to draw his attention. 

“Hmm?” His eyes came back into focus on Riley as he tried to remember what she had said.

“Do you have any fireworks?” She asked, trying not to let the worry she felt for Mac creep into her voice.

“Ummm, no. Well technically yes, I just haven’t got them made. Why?” He looked at her with curiosity as she grinned and took a step back. “Wait, you want to light fireworks? Here? Riles, we just got in trouble for nearly setting my house on fire, shouldn’t we refrain from blowing things up?” He asked with a look of concern on his face when he mentioned his home almost burning. 

“Well I didn’t say we’d light them here. But maybe… if we go somewhere else? More private place we can perhaps blow some stuff up?” She needed to get Mac out of this house, and away from all the memories of everything that went wrong the past year. It also didn’t hurt that getting out of this house meant that she didn’t have to see all the photos Mac had laying around of Desi and him, all of which he hadn’t yet made frames for, she noted with a feeling of pride. 

“Well we could go to the national park. It’s only thirty minutes away. We can bring what we need….. Make it when we get there.” Mac started looking around the room, and he got that look on his face that meant he was thinking through complex equations. “Are you sure you want to do this though?” Mac turned back to her and asked.

“Yes Mac. Blowing stuff up with you is a much better way to spend an otherwise seriously boring day.” She tried to keep the blush that was rising to her face down at the thought of spending an entire day with Mac. She knew she couldn’t be with him, she knew that. But it didn’t stop her from feeling the way she does about him. 

“Really? Why? I mean I love blowing stuff up, but usually people tell me not to, and they definitely don’t volunteer to hear me go all science nerd to them.” Mac took a step back from her and looked at her with an odd expression of suspicion on his face. Why was he suspicious?

“Do you really want me to tell you why I’m here? Mac, you’re a really smart guy, I thought you might know why I came by.” She tried to steer him away from the conversation she didn’t want to have at the moment. The one that could hurt him.

“You came to check on me. Like I’m not able to take care of myself.” Mac started getting defensive and turned his back on her.

“That’s not the only reason I came, Mac.” Riley tried to calm him down. He was spiraling out of control; he always keeps his emotions on such a tight leash, and now they are all breaking loose. 

“I don’t need a babysitter Riles!” He turned and yelled to her. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself! I have been for a long time!” 

“Are you Mac? Are you really?” Riley needed to get through to him, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings but he needed to see that he was not all right and that she was here to help. “Because from where I am standing it looks like you haven’t been taking care of anything. Your house is a disaster, you haven’t slept in days. There is no food in the fridge, and you can barely think straight.” Mac deflated as she snapped at him all the things she noticed the moment she had walked in the door.

“Mac, I’m not here to get you to tell me anything, to admit that you aren’t alright. I know you’re not. That’s okay. I came because I am here for you; whatever you need I am here for you.” Mac collapsed onto the couch and put his head in his hands. Riley walked over, and crouched down in front of him. “I’m here Mac. I always will be.” She reached out and hugged him tight as he cried silently into her shoulder.

“I’m sorry Riles. I’m so sorry.” 


End file.
